OK I'm learning Red Hot Mama, and I noticed he shows you that you need a double lift, but skips over it and doesn't really tell you how to do it.
How to do it is obvious, but when I'm doing it I can't keep it clean and turn them over like more than one card so it looks obvious.
Anyone seen an online video tutorial for double lifts?
Also is there an online tutorial for Larry Jenning's Snap double, and if not could someone record one for me please?
Chris

If you're not good at a DL, you can do this. When you got the odd card on top of the deck just take it of and say something like "okay there is one different color card in the deck" while doing that just scoop the next card over to get a pinky break then place the odd card back on top. Then get your thumb at the back of the deck and your middle finger at the front and turn the card over with your left thumb. This way the 2 cards are always straight and you won't flash

Hope this helps. If not pm me and I can record it for you

NIels

the_hidey

You need practice. I'd advise you to get a book like RRTCM or Card College and work on it. Doing a DL really well takes time. The DL in Red Hot Mama is pretty easy since the specs already think that the stranger card is their chosen card but you still need to practice. Trying to learn sleights off the internet is a thankless task.

I believe Michael is using the Vernon double lift. I actually learned that particular lift from that very same video of him doing it, so you could too. You just need to abuse the rewind button.

For DL's in general, you need a light touch and a nice easy smooth action. Practice turning over a single card, then a double and try to get them looking the same if possible.

If you fancy splashing out on a video or DVD then Daryl's Ambitious Card one teaches various DL techniques well.

Personally, I think that if you can't yet do a simple double lift then I'd concentrate on that before trying more advanced ones.

""If you fancy splashing out on a video or DVD then Daryl's Ambitious Card one teaches various DL techniques well""

Well, Daryl only teaches the snap double and like Neil said, start learning the basic DL first

Niels

I use Larry Jenning's snap DL at the moment. The only problem I am having is the cards separate slightly at the front.

I know this goes against what is taught, but, when I use a light touch, the cards inevitably seperate! When I use a firm touch, the cards stick together as one. I know that with much practice, the light touch is the way to go (looks much more natural). However, while learning the basic technique, I still tend to "squeeze" too much! Also, in some card tricks, the biddle grip is much easier to make two cards look as one. You have to experiment with your technique, and practice, practice, practice!

I think Dai Vernon has some great tips on the DL. on his videos.
Rick...

Think of the double as a page in a book. The cards should never leave the deck. Just turn it over let it fall and turn it back over.

Check out the Double take video by Gregory Wilson.

All of your questions will be answered.

The double lift is a powerful tool that you should study and perfect. It would be worth your time and money to invest in a book and video to help you. There are many out there. One of my favorite videos on the dl is Gregory Wilson's Double Take. It teaches several different double lifts as well as the replacement which is as important as the lift plus several routines starting with basic ones to advanced. A good book to start with would be Card College #1. You will learn the double lift, false cuts, card control, shuffles etc. Most important is practice, practice, practice. Good luck

NEVER hold a double in biddle grip! It looks awful! I will not give any names but a certain internet personality and a few of his followers use this lift, and it is a TERRIBLE sight to behold. Learn the movements you use naturally to turn one card over, then apply that to turning 2 cards over from a break. RRTCM is a good book, and in my opinion the standard double is more than enough in the real world. I personally switch between the standard double, the strike and the snap, depending on my mood and how I've been flipping over singles before that. Just a few good and natural DLs that suit you are enough; don't bother learning a whole host of them. Your time will be better spent rehearsing routines and coming up with original patter.

If possible, I will make a break for a get-ready and do a double push-off. Otherwise, I like LePaul's method or Martin Nash's Knock out double lift. Nash's are described in "Ever So Sleightly".

I will recommend classic books to learn double lift (Card College, Royal Road, and so on). But not only for learning this movement, for learning a lot of movements in card magic. Then you will be ready to do Red Hot Mamma, and a lot of more incredible stuff.

All the best magic,

Pablo Tejero

A further point on the snap double is that once the card is f/u on the deck, you can release all breaks entirely, because when you got to thumb count to turn it back down, the double pops up together because of the concave bend in the cards. I employ a lot of ideas from Cliff Green, and Greg Wilson to show singularity. I think this goes beyond showing a card and then turning it back down.

Hi !

As a beginner, I have also noticed some things :
- have a brand new deck (and change top 2 cards often)

- have your hands dry (when they're wet you can take 3 or 4 cards instead of 2)

- as seen in a reply above : be natural and take your single cards the same way you would for DL, so people won't see any difference in the way you take cards on deck

- try to look at Duvivier's "Ecole de la magie" DVD. He has a nice (to me) DL method, inspired (or created by)Hamman.

- and finally, when I practice this DL, I don't look at my cards in hands but something else (not my wife, since she knows I'm learning magic and wouldn't be pleased). Then, when DL "done", I look at my hand and see if I _see_ 2 cards or only 1.

Hope this help.

BaF

If you are a novice, then I think you should just lift the two cards up in the air in the "end grip" and show them. You don't have to turn them over.

I don't agree with Jonatan. Why the rush to show a routine or use a move if you cannot get it down properly? If you want to practice performing, buy some self working tricks and practice the presentation bit. Sleights are not meant to be taken lightly, and their use should be subject to very demanding criteria: namely they fit into a routine such that their use is 'covered' by natural misdirection within the routine, and that they are perfected within reasonable limits before they are used in performance. Of course, the first few times a sleight is done in the open nerves may cause its execution to screw up, but at the very least in private they should be perfect. Holding 2 cards in a biddle grip is not only an extremely ungraceful way of handling cards, it is also suspicious and would make the user very likely to get caught. And once caught, even the most beautiful double lift done by a professional to that audience in the context of that routine will be burned. Not only that, showing a card this way may become a habit, and actually impair the confidence to do the proper lift. I am all for simplicity in method, but I sincerely urge all beginners to have the patience to practice a sleight the proper way before allowing it to be shown for public consumption. Magicians have it hard enough as it is already with all the exposure going on in the internet and on TV.

I do agree. I am still "learning", and I am working my way through all the different sleights using cards right now. I havent mastered the DL enough to consider a public performance. I thought about what you said about the biddle grip, and after watching myself in the mirror , you are right. Learning can be a long slow process, but in the end it's worth it to perform the sleight right!

Yeah I also think that taking the "easy" way out as Jonaton says is the wrong way to go. Besides I have done nothing but practice double lifts all day whilst doing normal things e.g. reading watching tv etc. so that I can get the feel for it. I have vastly improved in one day. It's remarkable. I must be a quick learner. It's odd really, I can do the classic/riffle pass almost invisibly yet I could not effectively turn two cards over as one. Some people learn different things quicker than others I guess. Thanks for your posts guys they really help. I performed red hot mama to friends and family today and it blew them away - a real reputation maker.
Chris

I am also going to order Greg Wilson Double Take due to the excellent reviews this Video is getting. So I'll just be an expert in no time.

I think the best thing about this thread is the respect given to the DL. When I was a beginner I felt that the DL was discussed as though it was an easy move, one of the minor sleights. My experience has been quite the opposite.

First, I think that you must find a DL that is comfortable and natural for you. Then it takes MUCH practice to make it look comfortable and natural. In part, you have a built-in disadvantage because spectators are more mindful of a performer picking up two cards as one than they are of some other sleights.

The DL takes a lot of work to do well.

Gianni

Word up Isawthat!!!

Don't go doing junky double lifts. You make us all look bad. Turn them over properly. Make sure they stick together. Don't try to lift a double off the deck until you are comfortable with a simple double lift first.

I think it looks pathetic when I see a magician do that UGLY diagonal spin lift of the card(s). What's that all about? What are they trying to prove?

HEY I ONLY HAVE ONE CARD!!!!

Please. Just do it right.